"If anybody is looking for a place to volunteer in South America, look no further than Proyecto!" - Kathryn, United States

My final day of volunteering has come to a close and I leave for the United States tomorrow night. But before I finish this journey, I wanted to write one more post about the amazing organization that I have been volunteering for. 

That organization is Proyecto Horizonte located in Ushpa-Ushpa. They focus on healthcare, education, and local development.  I have been working with the education aspect by teaching English classes at a local school to students between the ages of 11 and 17. What amazes me about Proyecto is their dedication to improving the lives of the people in the community.  They want everyone to be educated and not just on science and math but also on living a healthy lifestyle. I have enjoyed getting to know everyone that works in the physiological department, the youth club, and the educational department. 

Another aspect of Proyecto is the volunteers that work there. During my time here there have been volunteers from the United States, Cananda, Germany, England and Bolivia. Volunteers travel from all over the world to work with this organization. Some stay as long as a year, while others volunteer for the summer. Each person has a different story but also comes from a different culture. During one conversation I am likely to hear English, Spanish, and German. One of the things that I will also remember about Proyecto is the chance to meet people from all over the world. 

I loved Proyecto ever since reading about them online before I came and when I was talking to the volunteer coordinator.  Although my first two weeks in Bolivia were an adjustment, the people at Proyecto supported me every step of the way.  Because of this organization, I have been able to learn about and appreciate the culture of Bolivia. If anybody is looking for a place to volunteer in South America,  look no further than Proyecto. Just do me a favor and know more about Bolivia and the city of Cochabamba than I did to try and prevent culture shock. 
The link to their website is below if anybody is looking for more information about this amazing organization. The website has information about volunteering, donating, or buying products from the local women's group. Feel free to email me or let me know if you have any questions as well!
http://www.ushpa-ushpa.com/

- Kathryn, United States

"My Eyes are starting to open"

How interesting is it to read about the experience of a Bolivian-born volunteer who lived most of his life in the United States?  

Christian writes about going away a on a little adventure to the rural Bolivia: 

"Man has this city opened my eyes and thoughts. As I try to observe myself in those little hours I have to myself at the end of the day I start looking back at my life back in the United States… This week I decided to go on a little adventure hours away from my homestay with a new friend I had made in Proyecto Horizonte, in a bus, no in a train, actually both. 

Excited to leave, we rushed to the Cancha (The central area for transportation, sales, and food) to catch our bus-train, unfortunately we underestimated how crowded it would be on a Saturday. Getting close to departure time we tried running but that was not an option for us as the fastest we could go was walking not mentioning getting lost in the way. Thankfully after getting out of the crowd we started running to buy our tickets and made it just on time. Astonished myself I have never seen a bus on train tracks and was excited for the trip I was about to adventure to. Unlike going on the roads we were able to see the rural parts of Bolivia which were beautiful in every way possible. Seeing the “Cholas” (Natives to Bolivia) in their natural habitats was interesting as a lot of families had farming fields, herds of animals, and mud houses. Of course there were some scary parts where the bus-train would start shaking back and forth violently as we cross bridges that are thousands of feet up high. 

Being able to see the different levels of Urbanizations as we visited many pueblos on the way to Mizque. The 6 hour train ride really made me reflect on my life seeing more than just a regular “American” lifestyle I’ve always seen. Seeing most of the people astonished and smiling because of a bus-train, kids playing around, and the many family driven jobs. I’ve been battling this thought my time I have been staying here, the thought of opportunity, emotion, and perspective. 

How many of the intelligent kids I come across with in Proyecto Horizonte never going to college because of opportunity, but at the same time live a happier life than the regularly stressed working American? Of course I do not speak for everyone but it’s something I hope to define more in the time here".

- Christian, United States

A British volunteer , Michaela, looks back at her 3 months of living in Bolivia and working at Proyecto Horizonte

After being recommended Proyecto Horizonte by a family friend who volunteered for the organisation a couple of years ago and loved it, I decided that I was going to complete the next four months of my year abroad volunteering for the project. I started off staying in a homestay with a wonderful host mum, however I had planned to stay in a flat with other volunteers but unfortunately the flats owned by the project were not ready to move into straight away. Luckily there was a girl from Alaska staying in the same house who was also in the same situation so we decided to go searching in the city for a flat to rent out together. After just two days of looking we moved in, it was really easy to find somewhere.

Having traveled for almost 30 hours from London to Cochabamba at the beginning of March 2015, I headed straight into the project the next day.  On my first day I was shown around the whole place and was amazed to see for myself all the different ways in which they help the community, having read about it online.  I started working in the medical center for my first month and now work with the children aged 3-4 at the nursery in Inicial 2.  All of the children are so sweet and I love being greeted in the morning by the kids coming up and hugging me saying, ‘Hola profe Mica’ it really is the sweetest and the best way to start the day.

It is not all work and no play, I have been fortunate enough to visit the beach city of Iquique in Chile for five days, the beautiful city Sucre (another city in Bolivia) and Villa Tunari, which I can best describe as a tropical jungle.  I am also planning to take a trip to the Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni) and hopefully La Paz and many other places.  I have now finished my third month here and cannot believe just how quickly the time has gone, with just one month left I know how quickly it will fly by and I am not ready to leave.  I have really enjoyed my time here, everyone who works at Proyecto Horizonte are so lovely and welcoming, I definitely want to come back. Cochabamba is one of my favourite places I have visited, there is so much culture and diversity here that I will never get bored of this amazing city. 

- Michaela, UK

One month Proyecto Horizonte

Elisabeth, a volunteer from Denmark, gives an overwiew of her volunteer experience:

I worked as a volunteer at Proyecto Horizonte for a month, and it was probably one of the best months of my life so far. My main task was helping looking after the youngest children in La sala maternal. I really enjoyed being with the children and I had the nicest colleagues who were amazing around the children. They always had so many fun different activities planned.
In the afternoons I took Spanish lessons, explored Cochabamba with the other volunteers or helped the organization with different tasks. When I was there, Proyecto Horizonte had their 10 year anniversary, so all of us volunteers helped painting banners and preparing other stuff for the event. The anniversary in itself was an amazing experience! Cochabamba is also a really great city to live in. There's a lot to do and the weather is always nice! There are a lot of national parks and cities to visit like Salar Uyuni, La Paz and Potosi.

FLOWERS, GIFTS AND TEARS

Katia, a volunteer from Canada, writes about the celebration of Bolivia's National Teachers' Day that took place yesterday at one of the schools in Ushpa-Ushpa:

I chose to volunteer for Proyecto Horizonte mainly because of the numerous opportunities of involvement that are available to the volunteers. In the mornings I work as an assistant to the teacher of Inicial B, and I teach English to the elementary school students of the Unidad Educativa Rene Barrientos, one of the schools supported by Proyecto Horizonte. In the afternoons I go to the office of Proyecto Horizonte to help with administrative tasks and marketing. Although it is quite challenging, working with the kids is definitely one of the most rewarding experiences. Two months and a week into my volunteering at the school I have developed close ties with the kids of the Inicial and the children I teach English to. Yesterday the school celebrated Bolivia's National Teachers' Day. The parents and the kids arrived with gifts and flowers to thank the teachers for their hard work on this special day. I did not expect to receive so many flowers from the moms and my students. They also gave me two beautiful scarves and a very pretty jewelery box. I was very touched to see that they were so appreciative of my work even though I am a volunteer and not a qualified teacher. The kids and the moms were coming up to me giving me "besitos" and their best wishes. It almost brought me to tears. There were no classes held on that day. The teachers and I had the privilege to enjoy folcloric dancing prepared by some of the students. We were also served salteñas and coca cola. I was excited to find out that I was invited to a teachers' lunch held the following day. There are no words to describe how special and grateful I felt that entire day. The big hearts of the moms, the kids and the teachers of the school as well as those beautiful moments will forever be engraved in my memory.